Nothing Never Hurts Again
by RaggedClaws42
Summary: After her time spent in the Labyrinth, Sarahs life has been mostly normal. Until once again Sarah is brought back to the Labyrinth in the place of her brother. Only this time the Goblin King does have power over her.
1. Mostly Unnoticed

This is my first Labyrinth fiction thing, but I can take flames. So no worries about hurting my feelings. If you can review I would appreciate it. But I'm not going to be to upset if you don't want to. So I guess I'm saying do whatever comes naturally :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of its characters.

Nothing Never Hurts Again

The owl had for the most part gone unnoticed. It sat in a tree over looking a medium size suburban house in Wisconsin, staring unblinkingly into one of the front windows. Car doors slammed, children screamed, church bells rung and still the owl didn't move. The owl was of a mysterious nature, its feather where white but in the right lighting they took on a blondish tinge and its eyes... it is hard to say exactly what color they were for one appeared to be a light blue like the morning sea while the other was a dark green like a midnight forest. The owl seemed like a quiet disturbance in an otherwise normal neighborhood.

A dark haired girl of 16 was in the room that the owl watched. She sat in front of her vanity, lightly brushing back her long hair and mumbling quietly to herself. "I'll never get it right," she sighed as she put the brush down. 'The worlds not fair', Sarah thought, this was something she knew with absolute certainty and she could not see how it would do her good to think otherwise.

Sarah had just gotten of the phone with her mother, Linda. 'Her part time mother actually,' Sarah thought to herself, her mother had really only been present in her life when it was convenient for her. Linda had raged and hissed when Sarah had told her that she would not be attended acting school that summer.

"But honey, "Linda cooed sweetly, "If you don't start training now you'll be behind all those other pretty girls when you start performing."

"I'm not going to be an actress mom," Sarah said calmly, "It's just not want I want to do any more."

There was a long pause on the other end. "Did Karen put you up to this?" Her mother's voice quivered slightly, "because if she did I'll come down there straight away. I won't have her telling you what you can and can not..."

Sarah quickly cut her off, "Karen had nothing to do with this. I just changed my mind that's all." Sarah was now quietly fuming to herself; she was tired of Linda constantly trying to make Karen out to be the wicked stepmother. It had been due to Linda's endless criticism of Karen that Sarah had taken this long to befriend her step-mom.

"What's wrong with being an actress?" By the end of the call Linda had thrown out everything she could think of. She had even begun to cry in to the phone (making sure her daughter could hear every blubbering moan of despair) about how she had always dreamed about her only child following in her footsteps. At last Linda had no choice but to come to the realization that her actress's charm no longer had power over Sarah.

Nevertheless Sarah was hurt. While her voice might have seemed unwavering on the phone it was only to hide the instant pain caused by her mother's remarks. She was a better actress than Linda would ever have guessed. Tears formed in her eyes. She could not get it right. She could not make everyone around her happy. But Sarah would not risk losing herself to make her mother happy, and she would defiantly not take the risk of the stage.

'It reminds me of the ballroom that's why,' Sarah thought. The same lies and cold hearted leers from those around her, how easy it became to slip into the part, the role of innocence among the lions. She had for many mouths now been trying to forget the drugged dream that from time to time would dance in her head as she slept.

"It's been almost a year now hasn't it," Sarah stared into her mirror hard, as if trying to see something else in it that wasn't there. 'The Labyrinth,' she wondered, 'is it still there.' Her time there had been so short, though at the time it had seemed like an eternity. There had been both good and bad parts about the Labyrinth. It was a maze that incorporated both deceit and trusts in its structure, and required more than determination to beat. 'And I did it,' Sarah thought with sudden awe, 'I beat the Labyrinth.' No it was something that she would not forget. It was what made her strong; it was what had changed her from the spoil brat she was into who she was today. To forget the Labyrinth meant she would have to forget all the friends she had made there and that she thought was as good as wishing them dead. Yet there were parts she would like to forget.

Glancing at the clock Sarah gasped. It was fifteen minutes till school; she'd have to run if she was going to make it in time. Waving a quick goodbye and a rushed apology to Karen, Sarah ran out the door with her book bag slung over one shoulder.

Sarah passed Merlin, her old sheep dog, on her way out. He was barking fiercely up at the tree. "Oh Merlin whatever your barking at," Sarah cried thinking it was probably some stray cat or a bird, "leave it alone."

But Merlin didn't stop barking, he continued with out regard for Sarah's words, his eye's never leaving the tree. Merlin had seen the owl, had in fact seen it many times over the last year. The dog had noticed its presents often when he when out with his mistress, and had seen how it's eyes never for a moment left her face. Even now as Merlin growled up at it, the owl watched silently as Sarah ran down the block to school.

The small back alley Sarah took as a short cut to get home was usually empty. It was a wide concrete street that let in a lot of light. She knew the way by heart, therefore she rarely had to look up while walking down it. She could let her mind wander as she walked down such streets as this, and Sarah appreciated that enough to make up for its lack of beauty.

The alley was not empty today, Sarah noted with a small frown. A group of senior boys Sarah recognized vaguely as going to her school when slumped up against the wall and laughing with each other. Her first instinct told her to turn back, she could go another way. But in truth she knew she had no real good reason to turn back and they had already spotted her walking their way, it would look stupid to turn around now.

One of the boys, that was wearing a light blue baseball cap, let out a loud whistle as she passed. "Hey sweetheart, want to make my day." The boys let out a round of laughter.

"Come on baby give me just a little kiss. That's all

I really want," another one chimed in.

"We all know you want more than that," A boy with crop short blond hair said laughing.

"Hey you where are you going," a short boy with a basketball jersey on said, "'cause I wouldn't mind giving you a ride." At this there was a howl as the boy grinned from ear to ear as the rest of the boys let his juvenile pun sink in.

"Shut up guys," a tall brown haired boy said seriously, "come on leave her alone, the last thing she need is assholes like you bugging her." A few of the boys punched each other in the arm to get each other to shut up. 'They are like the goblins," Sarah thought as glanced up at them from the corner of her eye.

"Come on," The tall boy said smiling kindly up at Sarah, "I'll walk you home."

Without further consideration he took the book bag from her arm and steered her out of the alley way. Uncomfortable by her situation Sarah mumbled a quick and short 'thanks' to the boy now walking next to her.

"My pleasure," he said smiling open mouthy down at her. "I've seen you often at school, Sarah isn't it," he said still smiling. All she could do was nod dumbly perplexed, she could not remember ever seeing the boy beside her now, and couldn't imagine that he, who she now saw to be quite good looking, noticed her.

"We share a physic class together. You sit three desks ahead of me," he continued, watching her closely.

Sarah frowned embarrassed. She never paid attention to the other student in her class. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't remember you."

The boys smile faltered a little. "Well that's a sure way to break a guy's heart. My name is Walter, nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand and Sarah shock it rather lamely. "I'm real sorry bout those guys back there they have trouble containing themselves every time a pretty girl like you walks by. Not a brain in the bunch," He finished laughing.

"Oh." Sarah stared at her feet missing her solitude already.

"I play football you know." Sarah looked up at him. "I'm really good too; the coach might even make me quarterback." He stuck out his chest proudly, displaying his muscles. "You ought to come and watch me play some time; I'd think you'd enjoy it."

"Um...," Sarah search for an excuse to no avail, "Sure." She had decided she didn't really like this boy; he was like one of the masked faces in the ballroom. Desire plain in his every move, caring nothing for what his smile could do to a girl, trying to play the hero in a sea of wickedness. The kind of person only in it to gain what he wanted. The image of the Goblin King danced across her mind, she closed her eyes briefly as if to crush the thought between her eyelids.

This seemed to make Walter happy and he trotted after her for a way in silence. "My house is just around the corner if you want to turn back here that's fine," Sarah said when they reached a convenient store near her house.

"Oh yeah sure," Walter said handing her back her bag.

Sarah watched him as he crossed the street to the convenient store. Several of his friends from the alley met up with him all were grinning and smacking him on the back, Walter just grinned back at them. Sarah shook her head and continued walking. "Not a brain in the bunch indeed."

Sarah opened the door to her house and was immediately greeted with the sound of her baby half brothers screams. Karen came down the stairs her hair in disarray and the crying three year old babe tucked under one arm. "Sarah, thank goodness your home," Karen said sounding thoroughly exasperated, "Toby has been crying for you for hours."

"There, there Toby," Sarah said putting down her book bag and reliving her Stepmother of her crying charge. "What's wrong? You know you shouldn't be giving your mom such a horrible time. You really should be ashamed of yourself."

Toby wiped his mismatched eyes. "The goblins in my room, they're picking on me Sarah." Toby whimpered a fat tear drop clung to his round cheeks. "They told me I couldn't play with them unless I looked like one of them." Sarah's eyes rounded in utter horror, she clung tightly to Toby securing him in her arms as if any moment he was going to disappear.

"He's been ranting about goblins for hour. I told him there was no such thing, he won't listen. I even checked all over his room, just in case there was a mouse or something there is nothing there. But no matter what I do I couldn't calm him down, he kept crying for you to come," Karen said. She looked tired, really tired.

"Go lie down Karen I'll take care of this." Karen looking relived gave Sarah one last look that clearly said are you sure. Sarah gave her a small smile, "I'm sure."

Sarah waited until she heard Karen's bedroom door shut. "Toby," she said quietly, "How long have you been seeing goblins?"

Toby looked confused, "The goblins. But the goblins have always been here. They told me."

Sarah tried again. "When do you see the goblins Toby?"

"When they come to play with me."

'Bless Toby's three year old mind,' Sarah thought sarcastically, 'I make sense of what is going on.' She had to check, because if what Toby was saying was true. Jareth, the Goblin King, had not given up as having Toby for a goblin just yet.

Please review if you liked it so I know that I'm not destroying the story completely. So go ahead indulge yourself, review, do something you never knew you wanted to do.


	2. Laughter of the Goblins

Please forgive me for not updating. It is my last week of school, and I have to take those lovely things that my teachers call finals and I refer to as pre-hell. So I had to study.

Also I want to apologize for my mistakes I didn't really check the stories background as much as I should have so I am going to keep Toby three because well I don't feel like going back and change it though I really should, sorry I'm lazy. But I agree that Toby should be two years old, and thank you for pointing it out to me. Once again I am sorry for my poor grammar and bad spelling.

P.S. Thanks you to everyone who reviewed the story. I appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of its characters.

Sarah heard their laughter as soon as she walked in Toby's room. An unmistakable high pitched noised that came to her ear as a mixture of mockery and idiotic ramblings. How could Karen have missed this? Toby latched his small arms tightly around her neck in fear.

Part of her wanted to take Toby and run, run away from whatever, or whoever was threatening them. But the only way to beat the Goblin King was to confront him. Only this time she would have Toby with her and would not let him go.

Sarah gritted her teeth, and called the one name that she had avoided saying all these months, for fear that he would hear and would answer. In a voice barely above a whisper she called out, "Jareth."

As if he had been waiting for her call Sarah felt herself surround by snow white feathers as Jareth appeared in the window sill. She felt a cold shiver run down Toby's back; she curled a hand gently in his hair to reassure him. Toby's tears had left a damp spot on her shoulder.

"Sarah." Jareth's mismatched eyes locked with Sarah's. 'Toby's eyes,' Sarah thought as she stared at him, she had not noticed how much they looked alike until now.

"Why have you called me Sarah," Jareth glared at her with that wicked grin he wore across his face. "Is it that you want to take me up on my former offer the babe for your dreams?" He was circling her now, moving with a cat like glance and speed that made her dizzy. She shut her eyes as his voice echoed in her mind. "I'm not offering dreams any more Sarah... not to you."

"I won Toby back. Nothing and I mean nothing will ever make me want to give him up again." Sarah opened her eyes angrily. He had stopped moving now as was standing in front of her, close to her, very close to her. "Take your goblins and leave my brother alone Jareth, you are not welcome here."

"Sarah, sweet stupid Sarah," Jareth moved one gloved hand up to touch her face. His fingers hovered just above her skin not quite touching her but close enough to where she could feel his every move. "You yourself have twice invited me here, and you do not think that you're the only one." His hand moved from her face to brush against Toby's. Sarah automatically stepped back. A goblin brushed up against her leg as she moved back causing her to jump.

Jareth laughed. "What is a matter Sarah could you be afraid. After my Labyrinth I thought this should seem a piece of cake."

She would not rise to his taunts, would not lose what little control she had, not in front of him, not with her little brother in her arms. Nevertheless she could hear the fight in his voice willing her to become a warrior again. She couldn't afford it and besides he was right she had done far riskier things before. "You have no power over us Jareth; it's time for you to leave now."

Jareth's smile glittered in its malevolence. "Your right Sarah I have no power over you."

'He is still smiling,' Sarah realized in horror, something about this felt wrong.

"I do however have power over your brother," Jareth's haunting voice broking through her scrabbled thoughts.

"But I won!" Sarah shouted. She wanted Karen to come but knew that her hoping was in vain. The Goblin King was very efficient.

"Yes, you did." He was moving again. Every step filled with the grace of a dance as if he had been dancing throughout his whole life. Briefly Sarah recalled a passage in one of the hymnals of her church, "And the Lord danced." She had not attended church for several years now but still that one line stuck with her. As a child she could not see why the lord had danced. Now she did, people would follow a man who could dance his way through life like that.

"And you did very well. But you see your brother is a different matter entirely." Sarah watched him with wide eyes that never left his face. "Do you think it is always easy for a child, even one who is no more than a babe? Surly you know better than anyone how great our petty trials seem. What to a child is freedom when they spend their days alone? Where is the fun in being on the outside of locked doors when everyone else seems to be on the other side? Friendship is not something to be given lightly; sometimes it becomes our greatest need and most powerful dream. A dream one would give anything to have."

"You tricked him; he is only three years old how could you be so utterly cruel."

"You have to understand my position Sarah, I was at half a mind to make little Toby here my heir until you so rudely took him from me." Jareth step backward towards the window, "I was going to let you keep him for a while longer, but there is hardly a point in that now that I'm already here."

"You can't have him, I won't let you!" Sarah pulled Toby as far away as she could from Jareth, ready to make a run for the door. The Goblin King threw his head back and laughed the goblins around the room after a short pause laughed with him. From within her arm Sarah heard a small snicker.

Her head turned slowly to look down at Toby. Two gold goblin eyes stared back at her in the place of Toby's mismatched ones. Sarah threw down the goblin in shock. It laughed up at her then scampered away under the bed.

"Please you have to let me run the Labyrinth again; I have to have my brother."

For the first time Jareth frowned. "Toby is not gone by your doing, the only way Toby can be saved is if he runs the Labyrinth and makes it to my castle in thirteen hours. I can hardly imagine you would want your precious baby brother trying to survive through the Labyrinth."

"Please there must be some way. Can't I go instead of him?"

"Why would I ever want a meddling little brat like you? Haven't I done enough for you already?" Jareth raised an eyebrow, looking painfully amused. "You really are a spoiled child Sarah."

"Jareth I'll do anything. But please I must have my brother back."

"Perhaps I can make you the gardener for the Bog of Eternal Stench, or maybe you would prefer to be a stool in my throne room."

"If that's what it takes."

Jareth became serious all traces of mockery fleeing his face. "Sarah," he said quietly, "by accepting this deal you must realize that nothing and no one can save you."

"I agree."

Jareth looked upset the lines around his mouth deepened, "why do you always have to be so self righteous Sarah? You make me sick with all these martyr charades. If your brother turns out to be anything like you then I would be wasting my time. However I have never met anyone so determined." Jareth look at Sarah up and down calculating and analyzing her. He sighed and shook his head, "So much trouble," he muttered into one of his hands as he examined her.

She was still so young. The innocence strength she had once possessed still beat strongly in her eyes. She was much too old to become a goblin, and far too young for him to keep. But oh... how he wanted to keep her. Wanted to hold all of her fierceness and love to him, never letting go. The one girl he could never quite get out of mind was standing here offering herself to him over the same baby, she had rejected him for.

He had been watching her all day first from his perch in the tree outside her window then he had followed her to school watching from her class room windows as she conducted herself through the day. He had seen those boys call out to her, watched as one of them walked her home. Jareth was disgusted with himself with how jealous he became as he watch boy with Sarah, as the boy looked down into her eyes. It reminded him of how not to terribly long ago he had stared down into those same dark eyes as he danced with her in the corrupted ball. But Sarah had not fled from this boy as she had from him.

He should hate her and yet... "I agree," Jareth said so suddenly Sarah jumped.

Sarah felt something inside her drain. She shivered slightly as a cold sweat dipped down her back. The words she had once struggled so hard to remember were gone.

Okay I guess that's it. Hopefully I won't take to long updating next time.


	3. Tears of the Girl

I am sorry I always take so long to update. I write them usually at my dad's house but I can't post them from there so I have to send them over to my mom's house through an email then reread and try to fix most the mistakes. As you can see I'm not too good at the last part. Alright so there is my list of excuses. Thank you for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own the labyrinth or any of it's characters.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

So she was back. The Labyrinth stretched out in front of her, a never ending maze of danger and hardships unnumbered. Once it had been her challenge, an adventure that fulfilled a deep desire in her life, now...

"It's my prison," Sarah whispered to herself. She had sat all morning by the tall tower window over looking the goblin city and the Labyrinth beyond. She didn't have anything else to do; Jareth had given her no instructions. He simply had left her there, with no direction of where to sleep or eat or what was to be expected of her, just faded away quietly without a word.

'Maybe that was what he intended for her, to sit up here without a sleep or food for the rest of her life. But why then would he have put her here in the castle and not in the Obliette. Is this what happened to people before they were turned into goblins? Was that what he was going to do with her?'

Sarah felt tears prickle in her eyes. 'I asked for this,' she thought, 'I'm not going to cry. Toby is safe that's all that matters, I'm not going to sit here and feel sorry for myself.' But she couldn't help the silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Couldn't help but sniffle when she thought about how she would never see her father, Karen, Toby, and even her mother Linda again.

Jareth watched Sarah through a crystal orb as she fell to the ground in tears that she had been choking back for hours. The goblins gathered around peering into the orb gave small shrieks of laughter as they looked in on her. They weren't quite certain as to why she was crying or what was going on but they knew that their King had brought her to the room in the castle and therefore everything else that was occurring must be his will also. One of the goblins gave a sharp giggle.

"Shut up," Jareth snapped staring unblinkingly at the orb in his hands. The goblins stopped laughing momentarily confused. They did not understand what was happening. But they knew that if this girl, the one who had managed to beat the Labyrinth, was able to trouble their king again she was not someone to be trifled with.

"Stop crying Sarah." Sarah looked up at Jareth. He stood over her dressed in a white actor's shirt and brown leggings. He looked perfect Sarah noted not a single hair out of its wild arrangement. Sarah on the other hand hair was thrown back in a wave of dark brown tangles from her running her hands repetitively through it, and she was sporting a pair of red puffy eyes.

Sarah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand embarrassed that he had seen her in her crying, stood up. She looked at the ground not daring to meet his eyes, eyes that would remind her of Toby, eyes that would remind her of her lost dreams.

His gloved hand wrapped gently around her chin bringing her head up to meet his. "You really are a wonder," Jareth said study her face with a dispassionate interest, "every time I do as you ask you fall to pieces because of it. Do you perhaps regret your decision Sarah?"

"No."

Jareth smiled at the immediate response. 'My poor brave little Sarah you'll never give up will you.' "How are you enjoying my castle," Jareth said dropping her head and walking over to lean against the wall.

Sarah watched him from the center of the room with a cautious stare. She tried to think of him as the evil villain from a fairy tale, but his relaxed nonchalant attitude made it hard to place him with old witches who baked little children and charming wolves that ate grandmothers. He didn't feel entirely evil to her; after all he had let her take Toby's place hadn't he. "It's not much of a castle if all it consists of is this room and that one window."

He laughed amused, "Have no fear Sarah; it would not do for me to keep you here for the rest of your life." How could he have forgotten how entertaining she was? After over a year of having no one around but the goblins for company Sarah felt like a breath of fresh air. Not that there hadn't been children wished away, but he wouldn't take them not just then, not when the child and girl he want was still so close. He wondered if Sarah had ever really realized just how close they had been.

"What do you intend to do with me then?"

"What can I do with you? I can't leave you to your own devices because you'll keep the goblins in an uproar with your continuous crying." He saw to his satisfaction Sarah blushed. "I can't put you somewhere to forget about you because you are one of those people who can become very dangerous when forgotten. All in all you have left me in a very difficult situation. There really was no reason at all I should have taken you. You're more demanding then all the goblins in my kingdom combined. So tell me Sarah what can I do with you?"

His eyes were colder than she remembered. 'He's so beautiful, everything about him, even the lines of cruelty on his face.' She wondered how her defeat of the Labyrinth had settled with him. The Labyrinth looked as if it was still in one piece but there were parts she had observed that seemed fractured in one way or another. Not for the first time in her life she thought about what it would have been like had she taken her dreams instead of Toby, not that she ever would but... had she just let herself get caught up in his song, let herself fall in to the easy motion of his dance. 'Could I ever have been happy though, knowing that I traded my baby brother for a dream?' No a corrupted reality never could compete with that sweet little babe.

She shook her head, he had said himself those kinds of dreams were gone. Jareth circled her looking her over from top to bottom. "You really haven't changed have you Sarah, underneath that noble exterior the spoiled little girl is still there." Sarah opened her mouth in protest, but Jareth raised a finger to her lips before her thoughts had formed in to words. "You always had to be the hero; you can never let anyone else take that role. You always had to have the adventure all to yourself. Nothing was ever enough for you Sarah."

'Not even a king.'

The thought hung unspoken between them. 'Perhaps it wasn't because I beat the Labyrinth that he resents me. Does he blame me for not choosing him over my brother?' Looking over at him from where she stood, she noticed that the grace with which he moved which she had mistaken for an elegant dance held a deep sadness in each step. How had she missed that? Was she only taking everything for granted again?

'Everything, I've done everything you wanted.' Had she wanted him to love her? He couldn't have expected a girl at 15 or even 16 for that matter to know what she wanted. He was too much for her to deal with at the time. She had never even had a boyfriend, she was inexperienced, and how could she have been expected to be with a man who knew just what dreams may hold. Then why had he brought her back, surly it could not be just because she had asked him to. Nothing was ever that simple in this place.

"What was said is said, isn't that right Jareth? You agreed to take me so it's too late to change your mind now, even if you don't have a use for me." Sarah really wanted this day to be over she was tired, her eyes were sore from crying, and she was very, very hungry. Her stomach gave a rather loud gurgle at the thought.

Amused perhaps more by her stomach than her words Jareth smiled at her. "I suppose I could feed you first before we decide what is to be done with you. At the very least it might put an end to those hideous noises coming from your stomach long enough to give me time to think. Sarah blushed again to her dismay. He always knew exactly what to say to embarrass her. At her current state though she thought even a meal with the Goblin King would be bearable so long as food was present.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Please review!


	4. Dealing with Dishes

Okay this would have been up much quicker but for some reason it wasn't letting me submit documents. Just so you know I care. Thanks for the reviews you gave me I really appreciate them.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Labyrinth or any of its character's. I just enjoy messing with them.

The dinning room was less than what Sarah had expected it to be. She had been prepared for a more lavished arrangement as one would expect of a king. But then again one could say the same for his throne room and after all he was use to eating alone. The room was bare save for a small stone rectangle table in the middle that had one large chair and a small round stool a goblin had helpfully brought in. On a happy note at least there was a lack of chickens in this room.

Jareth casually flung one leg over the side of his chair, while Sarah rather cautiously sat down in the stool opposite to him. Jareth tossed a crystal lightly into the air. Sarah watched as the crystal hit the ground and rolled out the back door, which Sarah assumed lead to some sort of kitchen.

A small shriek was heard from behind the door. A few moments later a disgruntled looking goblin came scurrying out the door carrying a tray over its head that was at least twice the poor things size. The little goblin was concentrating so hard on its task it failed to see the empty wine bottle in front of it and slipped, spilling some of the contents of the tray on to the unswept ground. The goblin tried to scoop some of the food remains back on to the tray in hopes that no one saw. Then plopping the tray down on to the table fled the room. The crystal ball rolled silently back onto Jareth's lap.

Sighing in distaste Jareth pulled a plum from the tray wiped it on his shirt then took a bite. Sarah just stared at the food before her. There was a few pieces a fruit, along with a small basin that looked like at one point it might have contained some sort of soup that had by now for the most part splashed out, a few pieces of bread that were soaked in the would be soup, and a few chucks of meat Sarah didn't dare to ask about.

"Do you always eat like this?"

"You're lucky they remembered to put the food on a platter." He said staring at the plum with a kind of detached interest.

Sarah looked around the table blankly. "Is then any plates or napkins?"

Jareth looked at her in surprise. Sarah was automatically glad she had not asked him about the silverware or salt. It was if the idea of plates had never occurred to him. "We use to have plates..." he said warily, "But I believe the goblins must have disposed of them all by now.

He was watching her intensely now, curious what she was going to do next. Sarah looked almost mournfully at the food. Her stomach gave a growl in protest. Sadly she lifted up a bit of meat she hoped hadn't fell on the floor and placed it in her mouth. It was dry yet some how raw at the same time giving almost a slimy texture. Unable to help herself she spit it out into her hand.

Jareth let out an amused laugh. "Is the food always this... this...?"

"Terrible. Well yes goblins aren't much for cooks now are they? Take a piece of the fruit it's not half bad," Jareth said still laughing.

Sarah looked at the remaining pieces of fruit Jareth had left her. To her astonishment only a pair of peaches remained. She glared at Jareth's cocky smile, but decided to ignore the comment. "I use to cook for Toby all the time. I tried to make him something special every time I had to baby-sit him. Nothing too fancy but it would be our little treat." Sarah felt a few tears prickle behind her eyes, she shut them tightly to prevent them from falling.

"So you think you can cook then," Jareth said mockingly. Sarah opened her eyes her unshed tears forgotten. "Very well then after we finish eating I'll have one of the goblins take you to the kitchens and you can try you expertise there."

Saying nothing Sarah picked up one of the peaches and defiantly took a bite.

'So this is to be my new workplace.'

It was certainly enough to make her appreciate the simplicity of the dinning room. Dirty dishes were piled up over a foot high in the sink and the remainder spilled over onto the floor and counters. The rotting compost of the remains of old food was still stuck to some of the plates. A few chickens had made their nest on the floor. Broken pieces of glass from shattered dishes lay in random spaces of the counter top, tossed among the throng of open canisters. Drunken goblins were asleep in both the cabinets and oven. And lastly the entire ice box was notably bare.

Sarah sighed the place was such a mess she wasn't even sure where to start. Someone tugged lightly at her pants leg. It was the tubby little goblin who had taken her to the kitchens. "This here Mag," he said in a gruff little voice pointing to an old female goblin, "She runs the place." Deciding obviously that he had said enough he wobbled out of the kitchen leaving Sarah alone with Mag.

Mag was a small goblin reaching about to Sarah's knees. Deep wrinkles on her face expressed her years. She clung on to a long cane that was a head taller then she was, and her lips were pressed in a way that suggested she had just eaten something very sour. "This is my kitchen, and I ain't leaving." Mag stated stubbornly her voice sounding cranky and angry. "I'm a good cook I am, and I won't have you humans messing up the place." The old goblin stamped her feet repeatedly on the ground, much the same way a child would.

Sarah could hardly see how she could do any more damage than what the goblins had already done. The old goblin must have gotten a certain amount respect and authority over the other goblins though, due to her title a head cook regardless of how the food tasted. Mag struck her as someone who did not like to have anyone around who had power over her, but who loved to have control over others. Losing the kitchen would devastate the old crone.

Sarah meant to have her way in the kitchen, but there was really no reason to hurt Mag in the process. "Of course you don't have to leave," Sarah said calmly putting a comforting hand on the old woman's back, "I'm only here as an assistant. I'll take care of all the dirty work such as washing and cooking, and you are the supervisor. You make sure I do a good job and..." Sarah quickly looked around before spotting an empty wine bottle near Mag's feet, "and," She said confidently, "you test the wine before giving it to the king."

Mag seemed to consider this for a while. Her beady eyes narrowed eagerly at the thought of testing the wine. After a few moments she decided this was a good idea and gave a kind of glazed over nod. Walking across the kitchen with her cane in hand she shouted out the door to a couple of the goblins that had been lingering outside, "They ain't kicking me out, I'm a supervisor now." The goblins had no idea what a supervisor was, or what it meant. But it was a rather long word so in their minds whatever it was it was important.

Sarah sighed she didn't really want that many goblins to work with her in the kitchens as they seemed to be more of a hindrance than a help. But she supposed one couldn't hurt, especially if it meant so much to the little old goblin lady. One thing was for sure though whether with or without goblin aid she could not be expected to cook in a kitchen that looked more like a trash heap than anything else, and if she intended to make a morning meal for Jareth she would have to clean through out the night.

Excitement at finally having something to do Sarah pushed all thoughts of sleep from her mind and started at the task in front of her. 'First,' she thought, 'I have to get rid of these chickens.'

By the end of the night she had chased both goblins and chickens from the kitchen, moved each hidden nest carefully outside, scrubbed clean both counter and cupboards, swept the floor, cleaned the oven and stove, took out the trash, and finally washed every single dish laying them neatly out to dry. Exhausted beyond belief she slumped down in to a chair by the fire and promptly fell asleep.

The little old Mag stirred from her stool at the other end of the kitchen where she had pretended to be asleep. She pushed her old bones from the stool. She had watched Sarah without the girl's knowledge the entire time she cleaned. Watched as the young girl attempted to clean ever nook and cranny before the sun rose. There was still a lot needed to be done in the kitchen but Mag had to admit she was impressed. Limping over to the girl on her good leg, Mag draped a blanket over the sleeping girl to keep her warm then returned to her seat. Though Sarah didn't know it Mag took her job very seriously and if she was told to watch over Sarah she would do it relentlessly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Please review!


	5. Not the only one

I had previously decided to discontinue this story as I couldn't find time to write it. But I've decided to pick it up again in the hopes that this time I will be able to keep a more regular update. I'm not promising anything but I would like to give it another shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters

_Sarah looked around at the upside down staircases and unreal dimensions. She had been here before. To this strange room that resembled one of M.C. Escher's creations. She was supposed to be chasing something or someone, but she couldn't remember what it was she was trying to find. Sarah circled the room clinging to the walls afraid to fall down into a place that seemed to have no ending. All the while she was looking._

_She came across him so abruptly that she had to bite her tongue to repress a scream. He sat on the edge of the platform she was walking on. One on his hands rested on his knee the other was twirling a crystal. His tangled blonde hair fell over his eyes shading them from her view. His lip twitched as she moved closer._

_"Sarah, why are you here." Jareth said eyes still on the crystal rolling around his hand._

_"To take back what you have stolen from me," Sarah replied without thinking._

_"Must you be so cruel even here in my mind?"_

"_Return to me what you have taken."_

"_Can't you even remember what it was I took," he turned to her meeting her eyes with his._

_"I…" What had he taken, she knew it was something, something she was missing, something she need to get out of this place. _

_"Don't you know what it was Sarah?" The Goblin King gave her a painful smile. "If you can't even remember what it was that I took why then so eager to get it back?" _

_"Because…" Why did she want it back? It's because it was the Goblin King who had taken it. He was evil right…She had to have it back because…well because it was hers. 'Sarah Williams your acting like a spoiled child again,' she thought. "Because I'm supposed to have it aren't I, I need it." _

_He frowned at her. He looked sad and very tired much like he had before when she had been able to beat him. He sighed heavily spinning the crystal he was holding. As the crystal turned Sarah watched as it changed, white long cracks ran through the entire crystal slivers of the crystal looked as if they had been broken off and put back together again, there were small chuck and dents in it where before must have been a smooth, clear surface. "Look what I'm offering you Sarah your dreams." _

_"They're broken, aren't they?"_

_"Yes Sarah, they're broken. But I'm fixing them."_

_"Why?"_

_"You weren't the only dreamer." He reached out and touched her_

Sarah awoke with a start. It was still dark outside; the little Mag gave a small snort from where she slept as Sarah got to her feet. Walking over to the sink she splashed her face with cold water; it was just a dream wasn't it. Sighing she sat back down in her chair to try to fall asleep again. "It was just a dream," she whispered to herself, "just a dream." Though for a moment she could have sworn she had felt his hand on her skin.

The morning light shone through the kitchen windows, spreading over the counter top and falling gracefully on to the floor. Sarah sighed contentedly as the warm sunlight wrapped around her dozing form it was peaceful, it was lovely. She rolled over in her sleep and toppled awkwardly to the floor.

She was greeted by the high pitched laughter of goblins who had gathered around the kitchen to watch her sleep. Giving them her harshest glare she was pleased to see them scatter, running in all directions, bumping into each other in their haste to exit the kitchens.

Mag still seated on her stool continued to cackle at Sarah. "You should have seen your face, fell right out of your chair you did."

"Yes," said Sarah sarcastically, "thanks for pointing that out, wouldn't have figured it out myself."

"'Bout time you got up anyway, you got work to do, and I got to be testing the wine," Mag said patting her round stomach as she said the last part of her sentence.

Sarah rubbed her temples sitting back down in her chair. She had to serve him. Personally she didn't give a damn if "his majesty" ate cardboard for breakfast, but if she wanted to force that on him she might have as well left him with his previous cooking staff. And perhaps also though she would have liked to deny it was her desire to prove herself to him, more than she had ever wanted to prove herself to anyone before, and failing at producing a significant meal seem necessary to achieve this.

"Mag, where did you use to get the food from? Surely there must be some sort of garden around here somewhere?"

"There ain't anything but that old orchid out back, and if you want some meat I'll have the goblins will drag something in," Mag replied pretending to fall off her stool, then getting up again and repeating the action. Then giggling afterwards at what she assumed to be her clever imitation.

Sarah ignored Mag's teasing, she was use to a little brother and while Mag was clearly Sarah's senior she in truth had little more then the mind of a child. "Isn't there a Vegetable garden somewhere there must be something other than fruit?"

"I ain't never heard of no wet tables." Mag was now so absorbed in her imitation that Sara was surprised she had gotten an answer at all.

"Well I'll have to make due for the time being. Now where did I put those chicken nests?"

A half an hour later Sarah stood over a warm stove frying several fresh chicken eggs. She wasn't as pleased with the result of her meal as she had hoped to be but she thought considering what she had to work with it was pretty good. She had spent a good deal of her morning out in the orchid which she was surprised to find was actually quite large and filled with several fruits that she couldn't even begin to guess the names of. After producing several pieces of fruit all of which she could identify she had hurried back to gather some eggs from the chickens. She was horrified to find a couple of swash faced goblins breaking every egg they could find simply to watch them crack.

Sarah was beginning to see why Jareth was abusive to many of his subjects. Her screaming which had even caught herself off guard sent the goblins fleeing from her from what would feel like the thousandth time that morning. But at last she had managed to retrieve a few undamaged eggs.

She wondered if maybe she could build a chicken house as much to keep the chickens in as the goblins out. Not that she had any idea how to make one or any real good idea of what it looked like but the thought was not one she was ready to give up on in a hurry.

Mag sat at the table talking to Sarah, her tiny legs swinging while she spoke. The little goblin lady might not have been much of a help but she certainly had more gossip than anyone Sarah had ever met. Most of it was fairly useless rubbish but ever once and a while Mag stumbled across something that caught Sarah's interest. After a while Sarah began to feel more confident and venture her own questions to the goblin crone.

"Mag you don't happen to know a dwarf named Hoggle?"

Mag stopped and stared strangely at the little bit of whiskey in her hand, "Oh ay I know him. He doesn't come around here anymore and a good thing too. His majesty might not think twice about using him for target practice a second time around. See His Majesty blames him for the defeat of the Labyrinth. He almost dumped Hoggle head first in the bog of eternal stench after his Labyrinth was beat. But Hoggle must have said something to him that made him change his mind. I can't imagine what it was, not much can make Jareth change his mind about anything, particularly something as traitorous as what Hoggle had done."

"I see," Sarah said flipping over an egg that had started to burn when she was caught up in Mag's story. 'Poor Hoggle,' she thought, 'how scared you must have been.'

"Come to think of it I did see Hoggle once after the Labyrinth was beat. He came around my kitchen looking for something a little stronger to kill off fairies with. I says to him I did, 'Hoggle what were ye thinking betraying the king like that. You're lucky you ain't dead you are.' He just told me he'd finally found something worth more than his own skin. That the only ting he regrets is not betraying Jareth sooner. 'Hoggle,' I says, 'you can't say something like that if His Majesty hears that he'll kill us for sure.' Hoggle now he just shrugged said he wasn't one of Jareth's people anymore his alliance lie elsewhere. I can't imagine what he was talking about."

Sarah's heart tightened a little at Hoggle's open declaration of friendship. She was touched by the dwarf's words, yet she could not help but wonder what it was that Hoggle had told Jareth that had made him spare him.

A crystal ball rolled into the kitchen cause Mag to give a little screech and to lift up her legs that would have been no where near the floor anyway. Sarah just stared as it rolled right up to her ankle.

I quivered there for a moment as if expecting something. Sarah just watched it with a dazed expression. Just as Mag opened her mouth to scream, "get away!" a needle like pain shot through her ankle, causing her to send the egg she was cooking flying through the air and landing in a yellow stream on the window.

Anger taking over her precious self control Sarah marched out of the kitchens towards the dining hall, the platter filled with a couple of fried eggs and fruit held steady in her hand. She set the platter down with a smash in front of Jareth hard enough to break the yolk of one of the eggs.

"How dare you send that thing in there after me?" She gestured at the crystal that had returned to his hand and was now dancing around his fingertips.

"I thought you would have found such a simple task as moving out of the way quite efficient in avoiding the crystal, as I find it rather hard to believe that none of the goblins you have with you in there would have suddenly stopped dodging them. Perhaps you should pay better attention to those around you."

"You can't expect anything here, how was I supposed to know what to think when it rolled up against me it could have done anything."

"And yet it's a miracle that I find you still alive." Jareth was once again stretched comfortably out in his chair his leg daggling over the side, and his lips curled upward slightly in the corners. Needless to say the pose attracted Sarah's attention.

"I should go back to the kitchens," Sarah said trying to conceal a blush that had been rising ever since her thought had taken off into directions that Sarah found disturbing in more ways than one.

"Scared Sarah," the cold court trained voice flowed over her like a caress even while his hand reached out to her to do the same. She shook her head defiantly, though every one of her senses screamed out her terror.

His eyes twinkle darkly up at her with a brilliance that made her forget her problem, she had forgotten one thing about her time in the Labyrinth and that was how it was always easier to hate the Goblin King when he wasn't around. She had good reason to fear Jareth.

"You're stubborn as ever Sarah."

You know what after this long of not continuing it I don't really deserve reviews from nice people like yourselves. Not that I don't appreciate them.


	6. Losing your Head

Yes I am aware I'm bad for not updating more. It's just really hard at the moment I haven't given up just yet, but it will take time. Thank you for everyone who has reviewed I really do appreciate it.

This chapter is probably the only one I'll include a flashback in just so you know because I don't think I am all that good at them.

Jareth paced around a cold stone tower wishing with his entire sprit that for once he did not possess the ability to see through the crystals. He couldn't stop watching her. He would laugh under his breath as she tackled various task with an unwavering determination that could only belong to Sarah. Even while he enjoyed her struggle Jareth could not help but to share with her a smile of satisfaction when she completed her task. And it was driving him mad.

"I'm surprised at you, losing your head over some girl?"

'So this was what the dwarf had meant,' thought Jareth, 'this is why I spared him.' When the Labyrinth had failed to stop Sarah, and he himself failed to persuade her to forget her brother, Jareth was in a fit of rage. He wanted to show mercy to no one because after all they were undeserving of it. She had denied him, she had thrown away her dreams and in effect his.

_He wanted to hurt her as he thought she must have meant to do to him. It was quite clear that at the time of defeat he lost his sanity and was hurled into a twisted reality that reeked of evil. The thoughts he had there had not been his own, but they commanded his every action. _

_He thought of her friends, no not of her friends, but of his betrayers. He went after the beast first as the giant Ludo was unable to conceal himself even within the massive Labyrinth. The beast was lodged in a large cave in a shallow grove nearby his castle. The goblins attacked at nightfall causing the best to throw back his head and let out a moan to summon his rescue. The rocks rolled in front of his cave blocking both the goblins out and their furry friend in the dark cave. He would let him live only to be imprisoned in a dungeon of the creatures own making._

_The next was the fox though Jareth could not harm him, as the little creature had traveled so far into the depths of the Bog of Eternal Stench that no goblin would enter after him, whether or not if they were threatened. _

_Hoggle did not run or hid. He simply stood as he would any other day, tending to the fairies that littered the walls of the Labyrinth. When Jareth appeared beside him, the timid dwarf clutched one hand over a bracelet on his wrist and whispered, "I was waiting for you."_

"_Were you now? If you were smart Hogs Brain you would have been running from me instead."_

"_I ain't gonna let you harm her."_

"_And what precisely to you intend to do? Fight me?" Jareth put his foot against Hoggle's chest and gave him a shove with it. The small dwarf toppled over backwards. "Face it Hog breath your as weak as you ever were, all that's changed about you is you're the affections of a young girls pity."_

"_This is about her then," said Hoggle. He looked up, quite undisturbed that he was lying flat on his back in the dirt. "I thought it must be otherwise you wouldn't have bothered coming here to see me would have just tossed me into the Bog without all this trouble."_

"_What makes you think that isn't what I intend to?"_

"_Because you had to convince yourself that the reason she liked me and not you were out of pity not friendship."_

_Jareth's eyes widened in fury as he looked down upon the brave dwarf, "You spoken your last, I hope you enjoy stinking for the rest of your miserable life _

"_What's the matter Jareth lost your head over some girl?"_

"_What?"_

"_So you fell for her too didn't you? Do you really think that by hurting me she'll come back or that you can ever make her love you? She's too smart for you games Jareth." _

_He turned without a word from the fallen dwarf and disappeared into thin air. It wasn't until the wind started blowing cold air again, and a good 10 minutes had passed before Hoggle allowed himself a sigh of relief. For Jareth was no longer in the twisted realty. _

Now she was back. Sarah was no more than a stones throw away from him and he was still watching her through the crystal's glass. It would kill him for sure to have her close to him and for him not to react to her presence. He couldn't do anything about it as any moves from him would while perhaps not fought off be defiantly unwelcome, and he wanted none of her if not all of her.

She had been following it for the last 20 minutes. Carefully stocking it's small form around the yard waiting for her moment. She had finally cornered it against the wall and a pile of old logs now was the time to make her move. Slowly she raised the knife and charged.

The chicken bounced off of Sarah's head as she lunged yet again towards it. She smacked into the ground where the pesky bird had been a second before. She was instantly surrounded with a chorus of goblin laughter.

"Oh shove off already." She threw the bucket she had been using to collect eggs at them and watched them scatter. The goblins had been out here since the start of her chicken escapade; eager for the entertainment that was soon delivered with Sarah's horrible aim and the chicken's quick responses. The ruddy bird actually seemed to be enjoying itself at her numerous attempt to turn it into a chicken super.

"Really Sarah is it necessary to be so abusive to my citizens."

Turning fast enough to make her head spin, she moved in the direction of his voice knife raised. Jareth's long fingered wrapped over her wrist causing her to drop the knife in surprise.

He looked at her then back to the ground where the knife had fallen. Sarah felt her blood run cold as she realized that in scare she had actually raised a knife to him a thing she felt fairly certain he would not take a liking to.

After a moment, that was to Sarah like the wait before the noose, Jareth spoke, "Did you really try to kill a chicken using a bread knife?" He seemed to be fighting to keep the laughter out of his voice. Sarah felt her cheeks redden considerably.

"I wouldn't be laughing if it was my diner at stake," she replied coldly. Jareth smiled down at her, his eyes still dancing with laughter.

"Do you want me to kill the chicken for you?"

"Do you want to eat or not?"

Bending over Jareth picked up the bread knife and handed it back to Sarah before removing a long blade from the inside of his coat that Sarah didn't notice was there. He walked over to the bird that stood in awe of it's new competitor. The bird started to move to the left as Jareth ran to it's right. The bird figuring it has once again come out the victor slowed, not expecting the swift Jareth to attack. His hand latched over the bird's neck and it a quick and painless gesture the bird lay dead on the ground Jareth's knife through its neck.


	7. To Meet Again

Hey I'm sorry about not updating by unfortunately my parents, teachers, and peers do not see this as important as I do. I've also been struggling to apply for colleges so that tends to come first. Once again thank you for your patience.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters

It was only a chicken, and she herself had been set on its demise. But she had never seen him kill before, and for some reason it she had been shocked by how easy it was for him to do so. It was silly it wasn't as if she hadn't wanted him to kill the chicken or that she thought him unable to do so.

It was the look he had given the animal while he stocked it. She had seen it before, it was unmistakable, the slight smile, the soft sideways look, the indifferent stare that followed your every move. The same look of a hunter watching his prey. The same look he had given her when she had entered her dream ballroom.

She had been dreaming repeatedly of the crystal dance since. She couldn't stop thinking about it, in particular the way he looked at her. As if it weren't bad enough during the night she had begun to day dream constantly about them. She had already burned a fairly large hole in a sleeve of one of the shirts Mag had found her when she had carelessly fallen into daydreaming while lighting the faire on the stove. The effect of this sent shivers down her spine.

She had made sure for the next couple of days to have his food on the table before he arrived so there would be no need to see him. She did her best to stay out of his way even though he had done nothing to her. It was as if she was becoming one of the goblins running at the sound of his name. But the reason for her fright was far from the reasons of the goblins who only thought of punishment they would receive at the wrong side of their king's temperament.

Sarah was not afraid of the king, nor was she afraid of his magic or anger. It was the man that caused her to wake at night. It was knowledge that every night the dream would continue a little longer and his lips would become a little closer to...

"Sarah watch it!"

"What?" Sarah said jerking her head up from where she had been cutting up a couple of carrots to look at the small goblin women in front of her.

"You're going to chop your fingers right off if you continue like that." Mag said waving a long boney finger at the knife in Sarah's hand.

Sarah embarrassed look down at her hand holding the carrots the knife she had been cutting with she had to admit was dangerously close to her finger tips. "I'm sorry," She said setting the knife down, "I just wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I won't let it happen again."

"That's what you've said before, it's happened at least six times since." Said Mag waving seven fingers at Sarah. ÊI know I'm not the best cook but I've been getting better. I'll finish up cooking. You shouldn't be working in here with a head in the clouds anyways."

"I can't let you do that. You shouldn't have to do all this on your own."

"Oh you mean like you've been doing." Sarah flushed guiltily under the small crone's stern stare. "You've done more than enough here. You don't need to be spending the rest of your life here; there is more for you than washing dishes "till your hands are as wrinkled as mine."

"Thank you." Sarah said kissing the little goblin woman kindly on the cheek.

"Be gone with you then," Mag mumbled trying to look like she was indifferent to Sarah's affection, but failing as a smile touched her lips. Sarah turned and walked out the door.

The warm sun traveled down Sarah's back leaving soft caressing touches as passed over her. She didn't know how long she had been lying there, she assumed in must've been a few hours. The spot didn't look to different from most the Labyrinth really the ground was hard but covered in scattered clumps of grass and the sun towered over opening up into an endless blue sky.

Sarah had spent the morning amused herself as to what was in the labyrinth apart from what she had already seen. She pictured images from old story books and creatures from long ago myths. From what she had seen so far she wasn't quite sure anything from the stories she had come across would be present and if they were she wasn't sure they would maintain the same characterizes as the stories attributed to them.

She had tried to think about home; about how Toby was doing, or about how her parents must have reacted to her sudden disappearance. But this proved difficult to do, not because Sarah was short of imagination as never seem to be the case, but because she kept finding the pull of the Labyrinth on her. Her imagination flourished here and demanded her attention on the things around her, her home could wait while the Labyrinth needed eternal dreams and thought to keep it alive. And Sarah was more than happy to share.

Rolling off her stomach Sarah got to her feet. She figured she should head back to the castle to see if Mag had everything under control. While Sarah had often thought about her friends Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo, she thought better of it. The last thing she needed to do for her friends was to have Jareth pay more attention to them. Though she wished she could see them again as Mag wouldn't talk about anything other that whatever gossip had happened most recently and took the literal meaning of every joke, which while it amused Sarah also made her long for Hoggle's companionship.

Right as Sarah was about to turn the corner out of the grove she had been laying she saw something out of the corner of her eye. It looked like there was an opening in the hedge wall that she had spent the last few hours staring at. Turning her head from side to side she saw that sure enough the opening was there. Walking back to the area she had rested in the opening seemed to disappear. It seemed that the opening could only be seen when viewed from the side, otherwise it was entirely invisible.

She moved towards the opening arms outstretched remembering her first trip into the Labyrinth where the worm had shown her a similar entry. A narrow path covered from side to side in fresh green grass twisted ahead of Sarah to her left, and to her right... It had taken Sarah a good mile or two to get to that grove and now the goblin castle stood no more than a few yards from her.

Curiosity peaked Sarah forgot her initial thought to head back to the castle, and turned down the left passage. As Sarah walked down the path she noticed other entry ways into secluded areas as her grove had been, but she would have time to look at those later at the moment all that interested her was what laid at the end on the passage.

After several long minutes the path opened up into a clearing. The clearing was bare save a well of a sort stood in the middle and the hedge entry way directly across from her. The entry way was grand. Large torches burned on either side of the door way stone hands protruding from the hedge held them upright. A grin tugged at Sarah's lips as she looked at the entry way certain that what she had been looking for would be inside of there. Maneuvering around the well She closed in on the door way.

"You there stop! You can't be going in there."

Sarah whirled around in surprise. Looking around to try and locate the speaker. A small dwarf was hobbling up the path towards her. With a spark of recognition Sarah realized that the dwarf approaching her was none other then Hoggle. The dwarf who had yet to make a similar assessment was still making his way towards her mumbling incoherent things under his breath.

"Hoggle!"

Hoggle looked up at her in astonishment. He rubbed his eyes as if he couldn't believe she was there. "Sarah," he whispered uncertainly. With a yelp of joy Sarah bolted towards him encasing him in her arms. "Sarah is it really you?" Hoggle said returning her embrace.

"Yes. Oh Hoggle I've missed you." Sarah said releasing Hoggle.

"Sarah," Hoggle said taking on a serious note, "you ought not be here, why did you come back?"

"I had to Hoggle; I didn't have any choice Jareth would have taken my brother again."

"I don't like this Sarah you shouldn't have come back.'

"Hoggle aren't you happy to see me," Sarah said feeling a little hurt at Hoggle's dismay.

Looking a little guilty Hoggle patted Sarah's arm reassuringly. "Of course I'm glad Sarah it's just it isn't safe for you here."

"I know but believe me I'll be alright."

Jareth stood looking over his Labyrinth. It had changed, not much but still. He had spent so much time repairing the Labyrinth after Sarah's defeat that he had come to feel each and every change in its structure. Scanning over it he noticed the differences it was repairing itself. Something or someone was helping it fix itself. But what could be powerful enough to do something that before only he was capable of... Sarah. It would have to be Sarah.


	8. Intense Dreaming

Okay I know I'm really bad at this whole updating thing. So I guess I will most likely be apologizing every time I write more. Thanks for not chewing me out, I know I should try harder to get these out.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Labyrinth or its characters

Sarah smile to herself as she weaved several while flowers in to a crown, something's never seemed to lose their appeal. Hoggle sat across from her staring at her with a look of something between wonderment and worry. Sarah however had been patient with him, understanding that Hoggle was still trying to adapt to this new seemly resurrected Sarah of the Underground.

The conversation had started slowly between them. As to be expected between two friends whose lives had taken on very different turns. But soon enough the began to talk about everything, what Sarah had been doing before and after coming to the Underground, how Hoggle had killed 156 fairies in that morning alone, How Ludo had somehow hit a growth spurt and had taken on a couple more inches since Sarah was last here.

They talked about everything… except the things Sarah needed the most to hear. They never once talked about what happened right after Sarah had left, or about the rumor Mag told Sarah concerning Hoggle's escape of the Bog, and besides Sarah mention of her arrive to the Underground they didn't speak about Jareth either. To Sarah's credit though it wasn't her fault that the unpleasant topics were never discussed, for on every occasion she tried to bring them up Hoggle would quickly change the subject.

Feeling a little frustrated on having yet another one of her questions avoided Sarah decided that she needed a new approach. "Hoggle what's in that garden?"

"What?" Hoggle snapped out of his concentration eyes darting to where left hand pointed. "What would you want to know about that place for?"

"You stopped me from going in there, even before you realized who I was. Not only that but I followed it here from the castle it was a fairly direct route though it is well hidden. It feels like something is hiding in there."

Hoggle face contorted in surprise. "That's none of your concern." He said sternly sounding similar for the first time that day to the Hoggle that Sarah had met on her first few hours in the Labyrinth.

Sarah dropped her flower wreath as she got to her feet turning toward the garden archway. Hoggle jumped up after her, his face a mixture of both shock and anxiety. "Where are you going?" He shouted his short legs striving to keep up to hers.

"I'm going to go and see what's in there, what else would I be doing," Sarah replied over her shoulder trying to muffle a laugh as she saw Hoggle's frantic expression.

"Sarah you can't. You aren't allowed in there. Please Sarah don't."

"Well you obviously aren't going to tell me so how else am I going to find out?" Sarah said turning momentarily to face the dwarf.

Hoggle stumbled a bit looking uncomfortable, and Sarah felt a little guilty for her actions. "If I tell you will you promise me you'll never go in there?"

"Hoggle if you don't tell me I'm going to go in there right now."

Feeling defeated Hoggle slumped to the ground motioning Sarah to follow. "Every dream comes here, down to the Labyrinth. Every dream, every nightmare, every fear and desire come to this place. The Labyrinth is the harbor for dreams. Even dreams created here remain here, though only one person here is able to dream."

"Jareth," Sarah said with absolute certainty. Hoggle gave her a short nod in agreement. "Hoggle are you telling me that Jareth's dreams are in there?"

Hoggle answered her quickly with another nod before continuing, "dreams made here are more powerful and more…," he paused as if searching for the right word, "intense the Kings have often found them to be distracting so they have for century's been containing them here, using them only when they need to."

'It must be a fairly dangerous place to be around,' Sarah thought. 'One would guess that Jareth would want it guarded carefully. But come to think of it Sarah hadn't seen any guards at all, only Hoggle coming up the path…'

"Hoggle," The dwarf raised his head with a start at the sound of his name. "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean why am I here?"

"Jareth doesn't like you very much right now does he, so why are you here? I wouldn't have thought Jareth would want someone he didn't like around something as precious as his dreams."

"I'm just taking care of the garden, that's what I do."

"No your not," Sarah said, "You don't have any of your gardening tools with you. Don't lie to me Hoggle your guarding this place admit it."

"Alright fine," Hoggle said exasperated. "I'm guarding the place."

"Why is Jareth having you guard this place? Mag told me that she thought he would suspend you over the Bog of Eternal Stench if so much as saw you again. Why would he have you guard his dreams though if he disliked you that much?"

"Because I already knew what he was dreaming about so it didn't make any difference whether or not I saw them, that's why."

"You've seen his dreams! What are they about?" Sarah exclaimed her eyes dancing with curiosity.

"I wouldn't tell you if my life depended upon it, and I've had enough of your questions for today."

"But Hoggle don't you find it even a little bit interesting. It's like finding the dreams of the Sandman."

Hoggle blushed deeply. 'No I don't!" He shouted a little too quickly

Sarah stared at the archway with if possible even for curiosity. "What sort of things would someone like Jareth dream?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Don't ask questions like that Sarah you might just get an answer."

Sarah jumped at the sound of his dark voice behind her. Slowly gathering her courage she stood up to face him. His long blond hair flowed softly over his shoulders. 'How funny,' Sarah thought, 'that any part of him should look soft.' His eyes were… intense.

"Hello Sarah," He said looking her over as she had him, "I see you have found your pet Hedgle."

"His name is Hoggle and he's not my pet., and you know that you arrogant toad," Sarah said hoping her insult would cause Jareth to forget about the conversation he had just walked in on.

Jareth started at her, his lips curled into a cruel sneer. "You are such a child, sometimes Sarah. However I haven't the time to teach you how to actually insult someone today. I have much more important things to discuss with you right now."

"Like what?" Sarah took a few steps back seeing how close Jareth had moved towards her while he was talking. All she could do was pray he didn't take his anger at her out on Hoggle. I mean it wasn't as if she had actually seen any of his dreams all she really did was ask about them, if not a little demandingly.

Jareth reached out for her hand, and she bolted. She felt his hand grab at her as she darted to Jareth's left. The image of Jareth killing the chicken flashed through her mind as he grabbed hold of her wrist.

Sarah opened her eyes. She had not been aware that she had shut them until she realized everything had gone dark. She was standing in another section of the Labyrinth. One she hadn't been in before but defiantly still part of the maze. Jareth stood next to her looking down at her in what appeared to be mild interest. Hoggle was gone but Sarah assumed he must have been left behind.

"What happened?" She said trying to figure out more about what Jareth intended than about what had just occurred.

"What do you think?"

Sarah silently cursed herself for being so stupid. Of course she knew what happened she had seen him disappear and reappear enough times to know that that was what he must have done. "I mean," said Sarah correcting herself, "What are we doing here?"

"My dear Sarah you sure are inquisitive today, Jareth said running his finger down a large gash in the wall. He smiled to himself when he saw her blush out of the corner of his eye, embarrassed that he had heard her ask one question in particular.

"You've been having dreams since you've been here haven't you?"

Sarah's flushed skin if anything got darker. She frantically tried to recall every dream she had had since coming to the Labyrinth. To her horror se found that Jareth had occupied most of them. "Yes," she stuttered unsure what to expect. 'Dear god,' she thought, 'please don't let him have seen my dreams.'

"Not many people can dream here." Jareth stopped just short of saying only Kings can dream here.

Sarah stared at Jareth warily, she remembered Hoggle telling her about how only Jareth had dreams in the Underground. But she really didn't think too much about it as the thought that Jareth dreamed at all seemed for interesting.

"It's probably because I'm not from around here that's all."

"Many of my subjects came from the same world you did and they can't dream. The Labyrinth is usually enough for people. Millions of dreams from everywhere all combined in one place. They find that they don't need any more dreams then that. However one would figure that it wouldn't be adequate enough for you."

"Then it isn't enough for you either." Sarah stared coldly at him upset that he would blame her for dreaming, she couldn't control it or anything.

"I want you to dream of something."

"What," Sarah said startled, "Right now?"

"I don't care what you dream, just dream something." Jareth turned and stared at her unblinkingly.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of something. At the back of her mind she knew he was still watching her. She tried to picture her house and her family… nothing. She couldn't even imagine how silly this must look to Jareth. Really how could she be expected to concentrate with him hanging over her shoulders like this? She wished she could tell him to stop watching her, but she couldn't admit to him that he was irritating her or he would win.

What she would really like to do would be to hit him over the head with a rock. No make that a stick, a big, thick stick, and she could hit him over the head shouting this one is for Toby, this one for making me wash your dishes, and this one is for making me feel like I'm a complete idiot every time I'm around you.

"That's enough Sarah."

Sarah opened her eyes to see Jareth looking at the wall. "Whatever you were daydreaming about seems to have worked come here."

Embarrassingly recalling her daydream Sarah walked over to Jareth feeling slightly humbled. He took her hand and ran it across the wall. She stared at his hand confused and looked at the wall. It took her a few minutes to realize what had changed.

The gash in the wall had disappeared.


	9. Rose

I know my up dates are few and far between and I can't promise I'll get better simply because my life isn't allowing it. But I haven't given up even if I end up writing this only for my own enjoyment and practice because I take too long; which I'll readily admit too. I am sorry I am not really good at this.

He seemed perfectly content to sit and stare at her all day. It was beginning to wear on her nerves. Well that's not entirely true; it had been thoroughly pissing her off since a half hour ago when he had first started this apparent new found hobby of his. But if he could act calm and serene about the whole incident so could she. She would be calm; she would not let him know that he was irritating her. There was no need for her to get angry. She would be calm.

"How the HELL am I suppose to accomplish anything with you hovering over me like the black plague," Sarah roared throwing her head over her shoulder to glare at the Goblin King.

They were within one of the many Labyrinth paths that had been in some way damaged from Sarah's last visit to the Labyrinth. Jareth had brought Sarah to the section so that she could repair the ruined walkway. It made a kind of ironic sense that the person to do the damage also be the one to fix it.

Sarah was still amazed with this new found talent of hers, even while her dreams were making only minor repairs at the moment. When she thought about the Labyrinth she guessed it made sense why only a small number felt the need to dream here. After all the entire Labyrinth was the vessel of every dream ever created. She walked among dreams now; most people would be satisfied with this.

She supposed it was one thing her and Jareth had in common, the power to dream. Her thoughts swayed to the garden, where something powerful and fearful resigned. She wasn't altogether sure Jareth himself wasn't a dream, and if that was the case what would a dream dream.

He smiled at her, or at least he showed her his teeth. "I suggest you make do Sarah," he paused emphasizing her name with mockery, "Someone has to transport you around the Labyrinth. We wouldn't want you to get lost now would we?"

Sarah shrugged and turned around. Something told her he wouldn't have minded at all if she got lost. He would probably even see it as an entertaining pastime. "There is no need to stare at me like that. I feel like you're a vulture waiting for me to drop dead."

Jareth's smile widened in amusement as Sarah slumped against the wall facing the broken one. Her eyes were closed in frustration, a lock of her black hair had fallen over her face, and a faint flush had begun to show on her cheeks.

"Poor Sarah you really can't think of anything right now can you," Jareth knelt down in front of her just loudly enough so that she would know where he was without guessing how close he really was to her.

He pushed her hair back behind her ear, enjoying the startled gasp she uttered, as her eyes shot open to look at him. "Perhaps this will help." He bent his head and kissed her. He broke the kiss only an instant after it his lips met her, and faded away without another word.

Sarah stared after him tracing his outline long after he disappeared. Her mind was completely blank except for a soft numb feeling in the back of her head. Slowing she raised her fingers across her lips, and a million images all at once sprung forth in her mind.

Jareth appeared in his tower grateful that the goblins had cleared the room after sensing his foul temperament for fear of a beating. 'Why had he done it?' No he knew why he had kissed her one look at her was all he need to know why he had done it. But he should have held a better leash on his emotions.

The Goblin King refused to let a girl control his actions. He had already admitted himself that despite his better judgment he had feelings for Sarah. Had to admit it, his reaction to her was if anything was blatantly obvious, a fact that made his insides turn.

His ran a hand over his lips rubbing them to stop the tingling sensation that had arisen. It was as if he could still feel her kiss. Damn. He had lost his head.

Sarah stared at the creation before her she didn't even want to imagine which ones of the pictures that had filled her head had created the roses before her. Dark black stems ran up the walls to end in crimson petals, which glittered in the sun like the mornings first rain. Stretching out a hand Sarah let it brush against one of the petals only to withdraw it with a piercing yelp.

She would have sworn it had burned her but there were no marks or welts on her hand. The air around her was warm and moist and with a chilling certainty Sarah realized she did not want to remain their any longer. She backed away slowly as if the roes might spring to life and come at her. As soon as she reached a turn she dropped all defenses and ran.

She had no idea where she was heading, but she knew that whatever she had just left behind was far more dangerous then whatever she would run into.


End file.
